Plot twists are exciting. D&D streaming shows like Critical Role have used sudden revelations about characters to put players (and viewers) on the edge of their seat. But most likely, you’re not running a show for millions of people. You just want the players around the table to have a good time. So character backstory plot twists can be tricky to execute. Here’s why.

Players own their characters

Players should have full control over their characters. The campaign setting might be strange and hostile, and the villains devious and unpredictable. But the players should feel like they truly know and own their characters. Introducing a sudden revelation, like, »Actually, your parents aren’t dead, they’re the villains,« can make players feel like they had the rug pulled out from under them. The character they built, which they thought they knew, suddenly changes. For some players this can be fun, but as DMs we shouldn’t assume that every player is open to these kinds of twists.

So how can we incorporate the excitement of unexpected character backstory revelations into our games without threatening the players’ autonomy over their characters?

Get player buy-in before introducing plot twists

A simple way to make sure a player is on board with a plot twist is to ask them. Before bringing the plot twist we have in mind to the table, talk to the player who’s character backstory is being »twisted.« Ask them whether they would be interested in playing through the revelation. The tricky bit is to keep the information we tell the player beforehand vague enough to not spoil all of the surprise but concrete enough to let them make an informed decision. Here’s an example:

• The backstory revelation. A character’s parents who were thought to have died actually survived. And what’s worse: they’ve become the villains working against the characters.
• How to get player buy-in. Ask the player whether they would be interested in exploring an unexpected turn in the story of their character’s parents. How do they feel about the idea of their parents possibly still being alive? What if there were dark secrets in the character’s parents’ past that might come to light soon? Ask how the player feels about this general direction of the story.
• The player’s response. The most important bit is to actually listen to the player and accept their response. They might be fully on board and excited to play through these revelations at the table. Or they want their character’s parents to stay dead because it’s an important facet of the story they’re trying to tell with the character. In either case, we as the DM need to accept the player’s wishes, and continue the game accordingly.

With player buy-in, the player becomes a collaborator

This approach might seem counterintuitive. After all, it’s not much of a plot twist if we tell the player beforehand, right? Here’s another way to look at it: by involving the player, they become a collaborator, a co-author of their own character’s development. They get to contribute to the plot twist, for example by foreshadowing it during roleplay. Rather than diminishing the excitement this can draw players into their characters’ story by giving them the appropriately central role to play in a backstory plot twist.

Talk about how to handle backstory plot twists in a session zero

A lot of the problems with character backstory revelations can be avoided by talking about the process in a session zero. We can tell players how we will handle plot twists and revelations regarding the characters’ backstory in general. Here’s one way we might introduce the topic in a session zero: »There might be secrets about your characters’ backstories that can be revealed during the campaign. Before anything major is revealed at the table, I will approach you individually and we will decide together how to make these plot twists work.«

Building a dynamic character-focused campaign

We want to put the characters front and center in our D&D game. The story evolves around them. And unexpected revelations about the characters’ past can create an exciting and dynamic campaign. But we also want players to truly know and own their characters. One solution that has worked well for me is to involve the player in the process before the plot twist hits the table. A player can always veto a revelation about their character’s backstory. But they can also become collaborators in revealing these unexpected plot twists.